Education is something everyone here is familiar with. In fact, you are probably reading this right now for the sole purpose of bettering your education by completing requirements for a class. Education has been something that has changed throughout the years. Whether you narrow in on the lessons that teachers complete or the basic behavioral techniques taught, education, especially at an early age is something that is so crucial to a child’s upbringing. Recently, since the spark of COVID-19, children have not behaved up to standards in classrooms which has sparked a resignation movement from teachers as they are no longer able to put up with misbehaving children and disrespect. Children have no respect for teachers which is making it near impossible for teachers to get things done. Teachers are already not making a lot of money in most states, the disrespect and intolerable behavior they are forced to deal with is something that they are not able to put up with. Not to mention teachers are forced to deal with a new generation of parents that are extremely entitled when it comes to their children forcing even more pressure upon them.

Teachers are choosing to leave their jobs after they are finding themselves feeling like they are receiving zero respect from district officials and parents of the children they are teaching. These teachers are forced to spend extra money out of their own pockets since the district won’t find room in their budget to supply teachers with supplies. In addition, parents have unrealistic expectations when it comes to teachers and expect them to practically raise their children on their own. Personally, when I was a child, I was taught how to behave at home and given a learning education in school. Growing up and learning things is not strictly done by a teacher but also done by a parent which some parents now today are failing to comprehend.

Not to mention the most important problem teachers are dealing with, electronics. Children at an elementary education level have their phones and devices they bring to school. This causes major distractions and completely changes the tone of the classroom. By these children knowing how to work technology and being exposed to high-tech environments, they are unable to fully learn which is leading to teachers being blamed. Not to mention, when a dozen of children are distracted by their own devices, it’s near impossible to gain control over the classroom.

The treatment of teachers post-COVID-19 is something that is rising to be a civic issue in the United States and will lead to a major teacher shortage in the event that something is not done. Something needs to be done quickly.

When diving into the future of our environment and narrowing in on climate change, solar energy is a common solution. Solar Energy would replace the usage of fossil fuels. Fossil fuels make up the majority of energy and heat in the environment. When fossil fuels are emitted, carbon emissions are released into the atmosphere ultimately harming the environment. Carbon emissions hurt the Earth’s atmosphere which leads to increasing temperatures ultimately hurting habitats. Habitats are filled with ecosystems that are filled with different animals and humans. The destruction of these ecosystems could lead to a failure within our Earth. This is why when narrowing in on the issue regarding energy, it’s best to look at the pros and cons of Solar Energy and how it could potentially change the Earth.

Solar Energy is extremely important when it comes to social and environmental aspects of the movement. When it comes to social aspects, Solar energy could play a huge role in helping developing countries develop more energy at a cheaper cost. Hoping that the government would play a role in funding this energy, solar energy would potentially help distribute a greater abundance of energy across smaller communities which would help developing countries. Solar Energy is very easy to store. This leads to a surplus of solar energy being stored in batteries and in other mechanics to keep energy flowing. This could benefit electrical energy or even heat energy to keep appliances running. Not to mention solar energy would help heal habitats and ecosystems affected by climate change. Ultimately, the movement within solar energy helps grow the environment in a new way that is needed to save the future of Earth.

However, introducing solar energy would be quite difficult in the near future. The first flaw that makes it so difficult is the amount of change that is required. Especially in the United States, a lot of people refuse to change their living styles and the way they go about their everyday lives. By switching to solar energy, these people would be required to switch to new appliances, install solar panels, and create a stronger renewable energy source to reduce the use of fossil fuels. This would be a huge issue for the United States as politics would get involved furthermore pushing the movement back. It is impossible to please everyone so getting everyone on board would be near impossible. However, regardless of what is and what is not possible, even pushing the movement to reach the smallest amount of people would help the environment.

At this point, the environment is extremely desperate for change and small change would drastically improve climate change and the health of Earth’s atmosphere.

What is a Fortune 500 company? A Fortune 500 company is a top 500 United States company ranked by revenue. Univar Solutions is a leading global chemical and ingredient distributor to customers. Their task is to provide these ingredients to a large variety of companies consisting of paint and coatings, food, pharmaceuticals, and household cleaning. Ultimately. Univar Solutions being a top 500 company means they are forced to address the civic issue of diversity and inclusion within their company. The rise of DEIB – Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging is a rising movement and a rising priority in companies today. Univar Solutions is a huge company worldwide, they sell chemicals to 100,000 different customers across 120 countries ensuring that they have a name across the world.

David C. Jukes, the current CEO of Univar Solutions was given his title in 2019. Since then, he has worked to improve DEIB and the company’s mission. The mission of Univar Solutions is to “solve problems for our customers and suppliers, and to improve the communities where we live and work.” Usually, top companies such as Univar Solutions will create a broad company mission to broadcast to potential customers. In a company mission, customers are able to learn about the business and what they stand for. Univar Solutions also stands for ethical practices as they believe their company should conduct operations in a manner that prioritizes both safety and human rights. The company believes that by embracing diversity and inclusion, a more ethical approach could be taken when addressing their company and products.

Some of Univar Solutions’ most recent highlights when addressing DEIB consist of launching candid conversations that pinpoint racial divides and gender equity. These conversations are extremely important to get employees on board and to create a safer environment for minority employees.

By allowing these open conversations and allowing those with different backgrounds to share, diversity is only embraced rather than viewed negatively in the workplace. Other conversations consist of LGBTQ+ rights which expands their diversity. Following these conversations, Univar Solutions wants to overall increase its diversity across the globe to ensure everyone knows how important minorities are and how they are valued within their company.

Another rising current issue Univar Solutions plans to address as a top company is an increase in ecological sustainability. Univar Solutions’ 2025 goals showcase an effort to drive meaningful change and demonstrate continuous commitment within a new set of ESG sustainability goals. As they call it “shaping a better tomorrow” this is to help serve customers while defending the environment and prioritizing a better future.

Overall, top companies often prioritize current events and current things that could effect their customer base. Currently, these things range from diversity and inclusion to ecological factors.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to learn about “Energy and the Environment”. This was a huge step out of my comfort zone, in case you are not familiar, I am a major in both Finance in Economics. Stepping into an Energy and Environment class was certainly uncharted territory, diving into topics that are both relevant to today’s world and other topics that are pretty science-heavy. However, the information I gathered about today’s world is certainly information I would like to share on my Civic Issues Blog.

The usage of Energy in everyday life is quite interesting. Energy, for those who are unaware, is usually generated by a source of heat. Energy typically revolves around burning fossil fuels, creating heat energy, and emitting CO2 into the atmosphere. This is what makes fossil fuels so bad for the environment. The constant increase in fossil fuel usage leads to more CO2 in the atmosphere which ultimately harms the environment. Simple events such as driving (the burning of gas), cooking, air conditioning, and heating all burn fossil fuels which harm the environment.

However, believe it or not, there are plenty of ways to get the Earth back on track and switch from the constant usage of fossil fuels. Switching fossil fuels with Energy known as “Renewable Energy” is a healthier way to stable the environment. The question is, if there are options to improve the environment, why is nothing being done? The problem is a good amount of America is not knowledgable in science. In fact, when presenting these ideas to the normal everyday citizen, most rejected the idea in the fear of change. Studies show that Americans in recent years have refused change. The switch to renewable energy would certainly save the environment, but it would be a small shift in lifestyle as well.

The way energy impacts the environment is very interesting. Everything is one large chain reaction. The burning of fossil fuels is used to create heat energy, which powers everyday household tasks but emits heat in the process. The heat gives off CO2 hurting the atmosphere which eventually effects climate change. The world population constantly growing is extremely negative as the environment will only continue to suffer. You can do your part by participating in one of the easiest and most popular sources of renewable energy, “Solar Energy”. By utilizing solar panels you are using renewable energy and helping the Earth. Another option is switching from a gas powered vehicle to an electric vehicle. Unfortunately, electric vehicles are quite expensive so that option may be a bit hard at the moment. Hopefully, in the near future people will begin to come around and help save the environment by doing their part.

COVID-19 is a virus I am one hundred percent certain everyone is familiar with. 2020 is most definitely a year nobody will forget. A year in which the world shut down and shifted inevitably. While things changed for the better, others changed for the worse.

This is a topic that means a lot to me, as someone who grew up Filipino, I often found myself finding value in representation. Unfortunately, the representation stereotyped with Asians during this modern time was extremely negative. Often, people turned to the Asian race when searching for someone to blame for the outbreak of this virus. Due to the rumors of the virus starting in China, people often associated all Asians with this negative stereotype.

Last semester, I did a speech on this topic in my ENGL 137H class. After plenty of research, I came across the quote “Asians are not a virus, racism is”.  This is a quote I think speaks volumes when discussing the current matters of Asian hate. Minority hate increased in general after the spike of COVID-19, regardless of their background.

Representation of minority groups is extremely important as our generation progresses. Growing up, I never saw a Filipino on TV, I rarely saw other Asians, and I never felt represented. However, I did not know that feeling at the time. It took now to realize how much representation has changed my life. Representation is important because it shows value to a child that anything is impossible. Often, minority children feel like they cannot be what they wanna be or do what they wanna do due to the lack of representation. Representation is extremely important.

The lack of Asian representation leads to people openly making stereotypes. By people not being open-minded or knowledgeable about the Asian race or their background, they can make up stereotypes and “rumors” about information they do not know. The same goes for other minorities, what people do not know is what they can make up.

Asian hate crimes increasing by over 50% since 2020 is something that should not be overlooked by the media. Stereotyping to physical hate crimes is not okay regardless of race, but this increase in Asian hate needs to be stopped. It’s time the media shines a light on the racism Asian-Americans deal with in their everyday lives. Just because their movement is not as strong as other movements does not mean it should be overlooked and regardless. I genuinely hope in the future we can see Asian hate crime rates decrease tremendously. #StopAsianHate

Inflation, a word that I can ensure you have heard some time in recent years. But, have you ever really thought about inflation? Recently, you might have noticed an increase in normal purchases, ranging from gas to your favorite snack, the price increase is due to inflation.  Inflation is when prices of an economy often rise due to a specific event. Speaking of modern-day, inflation prices have spiked due to the recent outbreak of COVID-19. The economic shift within the past few years has changed the value of a large variety of markets within the United States.

Specifically, gas and oil markets were hit the most by inflation. According to CNBC in 2022, gas prices were increased by over 50%. This was a huge market to shift as people often use gas and oil every day. This market shift is leading to consumers choosing to redistribute their money elsewhere. Many Americans are choosing to dine out less and spend less money on leisure activities due to the spike in inflation. This causes a chain reaction as small businesses and restaurants are also being affected by inflation, they are forced to raise their prices while receiving fewer customers due to this market shift.

According to CNBC, budgeting became a massive part of 2021 due to the increase in inflation. As seen in the chart, many Americans are budgeting their income more to fulfill specific needs leading to a decrease in happiness. While inflation specifically touches huge markets such as oil and gas, the lasting chain effect leads to Americans needing to change their lifestyle.

Budgeting is an increased strategy that followed inflation. However, Americans choosing to budget more is a positive effect of inflation. Budgeting can often help one spend their money wisely. Whether it’s simple grocery shopping or important bills such as tuition or rent, budgeting can help make your life easier by keeping track of how much you spend.

This is what increased during the increase in inflation, people were keeping an eye on the amount of money they spent and cut back on different spendings ultimately leading to a stronger budget. Americans cutting back on purchases that are not deemed important helps them in the long run.

Ultimately, it’s hard to predict what path inflation will take. Being 2023, different government officials and the president are trying different tactics to bring the economic market to peace. However, it’s not as easy as it sounds. Keep an eye out on the news and different articles to follow along this “inflation journey”.